THE LAST THINGS
"I believe in the communion of saints,..the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting - Amen." Nicene Creed
The Church gives the name The Last Things to our final end: Death, Judgment, Heaven, Hell. Below are the Church's teaching on these articles of faith from the Catechism of the Catholic Church and from the catechesis given by Bl. Pope John Paul ll the Great and Pope Benedict XVI.
THE PARTICULAR JUDGMENT
Death puts an end to human life as the time open to either accepting or rejecting the divine grace manifested in Christ. The New Testament speaks of judgment primarily in its aspect of the final encounter with Christ in his second coming, but also repeatedly affirms that each will be rewarded immediately after death in accordance with his works of faith (i.e. parable of the poor man and Lazarus, as well as the words of Christ on the Cross to the good thief). C.C.C. # 1021
Each man receives his eternal retribution in his immortal soul at the very moment of his death, in a particular judgment that refers his life to Christ: either entrance into the blessedness of heaven, through a purification (purgatory if necessary) or immediately, or immediate and everlasting damnation which is called Hell. C.C.C. # 1022
"At the evening of life, we shall be judged on our love." - St. John of the Cross
HEAVEN
Those who die in God's grace and friendship and are perfectly purified live for ever with Christ. The are like God for ever, for the "see him as he is," face to face. C.C.C. # 1023
This perfect life with the Most Holy Trinity - this communion of life and love with the Trinity, with the Virgin Mary, the angels and all the blessed is called Heaven. Heaven is the ultimate end and fulfillment of the deepest human longings, the state of supreme, definitive happiness. C.C.C. # 1024
"Justice finally realized. Pope Benedict XVl 2/11/08
PURGATORY
All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation: but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. C.C.C. # 1030
The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. C.C.C. # 1031
This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture. "Therefore Judas Maccabeus made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin." 2 Macc 12:46. From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead. C.C.C. # 1032
"We need to be prepared, to be purified. This is our hope: even with so much filth in our soul, in the end the Lord gives us the possibility, He washes us finally with His goodness that comes from His Cross. He thus makes us capable of living for Him forever." Pope Benedict XVl 2/11/08
HELL
We cannot be united with God unless we freely choose to love Him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves. Our Lord warns us that we shall be separated from Him if we fail to meet the serious needs of the poor and the little ones who are His brethren. To die in mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining separated from Him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called "Hell." C.C.C. # 1033
The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of Hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into Hell, eternal fire. "Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire." Mt 25:41 The chief punishment of Hell is eternal separation from God in Whom alone man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs. C.C.C. # 1035
The affirmation of Sacred Scripture and the teachings of the Church on the subject of Hell are a call to the responsibility incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his eternal destingy. They are at the same time an urgent call to conversion. C.C.C. # 1036
God predestines no one to go to Hell, for this a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary and persistence in it until the end. C.C.C. # 1037
THE LAST JUDGMENT
The Resurrection of all the dead, "of both the just and the unjust" will precede the Last Judgment. This will be "the hour when all who are in the tombs will hear the Son of Man's voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment." Then Christ will come, "in His glory, and all the angels with Him.Before Him will be gathered all the nations, and He will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and He will place the sheep at His right hand, but the goats at the left. And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life. Mt 25:31,32,46 C.C.C. # 1038
In the presence of Christ, Who is Truth itself, the truth of each man's life will be laid bare. The Last Judgment will reveal even to its furthest consequences the good each person has done or failed to do during his earthly life. C.C.C. # 1039
The Last Judgment will come when Christ returns in glory. We shall know the ultimate meaning of the whole work of creation and of the entire economy of salvation and understand the marvelous ways by which His Providence led everything towards its final end. The Last Judgment will reveal that God's justice triumphs over all the injustices committed by His creatures and the His love is stronger than death. C.C.C. # 1041
"We believe that the souls of all who die in Christ's grace are the People of God beyond death. On the day of resurrection, death will be definitively conquered, when these souls will be reunited with their bodies." Pope Paul VI C.C.C. # 1052
"It is precisely the Last Judgment of god that guarantees justice." "Today we are used to thinking, ?What is sin? God is great, He understands us, so sin does not count, in the end God will be good toward all.' It is a nice hope. But there is a justice, and there is a real blame. Those who have destroyed man and the earth can not sit immediately at the table of God, together with their victims." Pope Benedict XVI 2/11/08
BL. POPE JOHN PAUL II THE GREAT
"Heaven is neither an abstraction nor a physical place in the clouds, but a living, personal relationship with the Holy Trinity. It is our meeting with the Father which takes place in the risen Christ through the communion of the Holy Spirit. Heaven is the goal of human life. This final state, however, can be anticipated in some way today in sacramental life, whose center is the Eucharist, and in the gift of self through fraternal charity. July 21, 1999 Gen. Audience.
Hell
God is the infinitely good and merciful Father. But man, called to respond to Him freely, can unfortunately choose to reject His love and forgiveness once and for all, thus separating himself for ever from joyful communion with Him. It is precisely this tragic situation that Christian doctrine explains when it speaks of eternal damnation or Hell. It is not a punishment imposed externally by God but a development of premises already set by people in this life. It is the ultimate consequence of sin itself, which turns against the person who committed it. It is the state of those who definitively reject the Father's mercy, even at the last moment of their life. Scripture shows in its images the complete frustration and emptiness of life without God. Eternal damnation, therefore is not attributed to God's initiative because in his merciful love he can only desire the salvation of the beings He created. In reality it is the creature who closes himself to His love. Damnation consists precisely in definitive separation from God, feely chosen by the human person and confirmed with death that seals his choice for ever. God's judgment ratifies this state. July 28, 1999 Gen. Audience.
Purgatory
For those who find themselves in a condition of being open to God, but still imperfectly, the journey towards full beatitude requires a purification, which the faith of the Church illustrates in the doctrine of Purgatory. The need for integrity obviously becomes necessary after death for entering into perfect and complete communion with God. Those who do not possess this integrity must undergo this purification. At times, to reach a state of perfect integrity a person's intercession or mediation is needed (i.e. Moses praying for mercy on the people) The term Purgatory does not indicate a place, but a condition of existence. Those who, after death, exist in a state of purification, are already in the love of Christ Who removes from them the remnants of imperfection. Every trace of attachment to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection of the soul corrected. Purgatory is not a prolongation of the earthly condition, almost as if after death one were given another possibility to change one's destiny. Those, in fact, who find themselves in the state of purification are united both with the blessed who already enjoy the fullness of eternal life, and with us on this earth on our way towards the Father's house. Aug. 4, 1999 Gen.Aud.
HELP FOR THOSE DYING AND FOR THE HOLY SOULS IN PURGATORY
Praying for the living and the dead is a spiritual work of mercy!
Jesus showed St. Faustina the souls in Purgatory who were suffering and said, "My Mercy does not want this, but my Justice demands it. It is within your power to assist them. "
PRAYER OF ST. GERTRUDE THE GREAT FOR THE SOULS IN PURGATORY
Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal Church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.
Pray the ROSARY & DIVINE MERCY CHAPLET DAILY FOR THE SICK AND DYING, especially at the 3:00 hour!
Have Masses said for those who have died.
Offer sacrifices to God and penances for them.
Make a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament for them.
Obtain an INDULGENCE for them offered by the Church. In November visit the cemetery in particular.
